Natural Relief From Hot Flashes

They can (and do) come on so suddenly, you wonder what the hell happened. You can go through peri menopause (ie the start of the menopause journey) with little to no symptoms. And then bam, on comes the onslaught of the horrible symptoms that we've all heard about from others. And if you've never experienced any of the symptoms of 'going through the change', it is very difficult to even imagine what these women are going through. In reality, it is a nightmare.
Hot flashes are one of the worst symptoms - they can, at their very worst, come every 15 to 30 minutes, on the clock, around the hour - no kidding; you really can set your clock by your body rising in temperature. These flashes can last anywhere from a couple of minutes typically, to half an hour in some cases.
Some women have the flashes through the night, which of course interrupts one's sleep (or lack thereof), because there is no way to have a good night's sleep when all this is going on. You wake up in the night, 'very' hot from head to toe, and this, despite doing all the things one is supposed to do.
The advice supposed to help is wear light weight clothing, sleep with the window open, have light covers on the bed, sleep with your feet out of the bed and so on - it's just ridiculous. And I say that because even if you do all the above, and the hot flashes have taken root, they generally don't just disappear because you are doing all the 'right' things. That's what is so damn frustrating about this whole menopause nightmare.
Of course there are other symptoms too in addition to the hot flashes - they vary from woman to woman but typically include (and are not limited to): sleep deprivation (mentioned above), incredible mood swings (understatement), depression, tearfulness, lethargy, lack of libido (remember that one!) and good old weight gain, just for good measure - ladies, we really do get the full whack don't we - what on earth did we do to deserve this lot, I ask you!
So, in dealing with the hot flashes, you have options and these are split into basically three camps. You can either fight through the whole menopause without taking anything to help. Not many women choose this route and I don't blame them. You can see your doctor and have him prescribe you HRT (understandably many women don't want to go down this route) or, you can check out natural remedies which will give you peace of mind, knowing that you're not bombarding your body with chemicals.